Our Story
The first issue of the Rocky Mountain Mason was published in March, 2013, although the idea for a Masonic magazine was explored several years earlier.
Working with a couple of Brothers from Colorado Springs, our Publisher, Ben Williams, who had worked for a publisher of a number of magazines in Telluride, Colorado, incorporated Laughing Lion, LLC, and put together a proposal for a Masonic magazine to be printed in Colorado and distributed nationally.
The magazine (which was originally titled The Esoteric Mason) was put on hold, however, after one of the original team absconded with the layout, budget, and proposal, and launched a competing brand!
After a year or two, and a corporate reshuffle, Laughing Lion opted to create the Rocky Mountain Mason - a general interest magazine for Freemasons featuring a wide range of content. For the first few years, Ben put the magazine together entirely singlehandedly. If you see an article in a back issue without a by-line, chances are our publisher wrote it!
From these humble beginnings, the Rocky Mountain Mason is now in its seventh year and Laughing Lion is relaunching its original publication, The Esoteric Mason, in June, 2020.
About Laughing Lion
Laughing Lion, LLC, is a publisher of Masonic titles and seller of small-quantity, high-quality specialty items.
Other titles published by Laughing Lion include The Esoteric Mason and Transactions of Research Lodge of Colorado.
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
Ben Williams is a Past Master of Norwood Lodge No. 111 and Telluride Lodge No. 56 and currently serves as Secretary for Research Lodge of Colorado. Ben is very active Masonically in both the York and Scottish Rites as well as numerous appendant bodies and invitation-only orders. He is a Past Grand Orator of the M.W. Grand Lodge of Colorado and served as the Chair of the Grand Lodge Education Committee for six years. He was voted Mason of the Year in Colorado for 2015.
In regular life, Ben is a Registered Patent Agent, authoring patent applications for individual inventors and corporate clients. He is currently finishing up a Juris Doctorate degree at Abraham Lincoln University. He lives in Littleton, Colo., with his wife and daughter, and their beagle, Warwick.
Editor
Patrick Dey is a Past Master of Nevada Lodge No. 4, Colorado’s only ghost town lodge and Master of Research Lodge of Colorado. He is an avid researcher of Masonic legendry and symbolism, as well as a student of ancient mystery cults. Beyond Masonry he is an architectural designer in downtown Denver, with a Masters of Architecture from CU Denver and a Certificate of Classical Architecture from the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art. He lives in Denver with his lady Sélah.
Art Director
Pablo Colomban is Past Master at Denver Lodge No. 5 in 2017. He is also a member of the Scottish Rite at the Denver Consistory. Pablo brings with him over 10 years of experience in magazine art direction, branding, and web design. He is a graduate from FAU and now lives in Denver with his wife Annie and their two sons.
Contributors
The Rocky Mountain Mason enjoys a diverse range of contributors. Among them: R.W. Kevin Townely, Grand Lecturer, M.W.G.L.CO; R. J. Johnson, Whence Came You Podcast; P.D. Newman, author of Alchemically Stoned; Dr. Robert Gilbert, P.M. of Quatuor Coronati Lodge; Mark Stavish, of the Institute for Hermetic Studies; Ric Berman, author of Foundations of Modern Freemasonry, among other titles; Dr. David Harrison, author of The Lost Rites of Freemasonry and other titles; Scott Wolter, of the History Channel; and many other Past Grand Masters, Brothers, thinkers and explorers of the mysteries of the Craft.